Conduit cleaning mechanism



Oct. 29. 1940.

M. G. BURWELL CONDUIT CLEANING MECHANISM Filed April 4, 1939 PatentedOct. 29 1940 PATENT OFFICE CONDUIT CLEANING MECHANISM Maurel G. Burwell,Columbus, Ohio Application April 4, 1939, Serial No. 286,018

7 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism for clean ing elongated conduits ofthe type employed in air conditioning systems. The primary objectresides in the provision of a cleaning device having a collapsible brushhead at one end of an elongated flexible handle and "further providing acontainer in which this handle portion may be placed when the device isnot in use.

Another object resides in the provision of a drum-like container havinga reel rotatably' mounted therein and coiling an elongatedflexible stripin said reel, the-strip being provided at one end with a collapsiblebrush head to be inserted in a heat conducting pipe to remove dirt orother foreign matter therefrom.

It is also an object to provide a novel brush head having a plurality ofarcuate sections and means for supporting the sections for adjustmentrelative to one another in order that the head -may becollapsed prior'tothe insertion in a conduit to becleaned and then expanded prior -.towithdrawal from the conduit Other objects will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing in which: I I i Fig.1 is a perspective view of a cleaning device formed in accordance withthe present invention;

Fig. '2' is a plan view partly in section showing the container for theelongated handle of the cleaning mechanism. H r

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view sitaken dfithplaneindicatedjby the life III-III orr'ig.2;-'

Fig. 4 is a, vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through thecollapsible brush head;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the plane indicated by theline VV of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

the numeral l designates the casing of the improved conduit cleaningdevice. This casing is formed from a pair of telescoping pan-likesections 2 which, when assembled, form a drum-like housing having closedends. The sections 2 are held in their assembled relation by screws 3passing through the end walls of the sections into a short hollow shaft4. Rotatably carried by the shaft is a sleeve 5 having a flange 6 formedatone end thereof. Secured to the flange 6 is a circular plate Iprovided at its periphery with a laterally bent corrugated extension 8as illustrated in Fig. 2. The plate 1, together with the extension andthe sleeve 5 form a reel in which an elongated flexible steel strip 9may be coiled as shown in Fig. 2.

To provide for the insertion of the strip in the container, one end wallis formed with an opening Ill over which a guide II is fastened. Theouter end of the guide has a narrow slot coniormingsubstantially to thecross section of the strip 9 and through which the strip may pass whenbeing inserted into or withdrawn from the housing I. The opposite end ofthe guide flares as at l2 to accommodate the strip either when one coilor many coils are placed in the reel. Theouter end of the strip has athreaded bolt l3 carried thereby for connecting the strip to a couplingmember I formed with the end of a rod IS. A rectangular block I 6 isslidably positioned on the rod l5 and has angularly disposed side facesin which are formed threaded openings for the reception of screwsemployed in securing spring strips l8 thereto. By reason of theangularity of the side faces of the block l8, the spring strips willdiverge from the longitudinal axis of the bar l5.

In the form of the invention illustrated, four Y strips l8 are provided,alternate strips being of have bristle elements 22 projecting from theouter surfaces thereof. The outer endsof the bristles are also cut tocause them to terminate in a curved brushing surface. By reason of thedifference in length between adjacent strips. I8, the brush sectionswill be disposed in longitudinally spaced order as shownin Fig. 4. Theend of the rod i5 adjacent the brush elements has a spreading plate 23secured thereto. This plate is formed with slots through which thestrips l8 extend and move when the plate is adjusted relative to .thebody It by moving the rod therethrough.

By reason of the inclination of the strips I 8, movement of the plate 23toward the block I 6 will cause the outer ends of the strips to separateand increase the outside dimension of the brush head. This operationwill be reversed when the plate is moved from the block.- A coil spring24 extends between the plate 23 and the block it to facilitate themovement of the plate in the brush expanding operation.

In use, the brush head is collapsed and insorted in a conduit to becleaned. when the head has been inserted to the extent desired, a sharppull on the handle 9 will cause the plate 23- to move toward the blockl6 and expand the head at which time the brush or bristle elements willengage the inner surfaces of the conduit. Outward movement of the handleand the brush head will withdraw all dirt and foreign matter from theconduit. After the cleaning operation has been completed, the flexiblehandle may be stored in the container by inserting it through the guideII. To facilitate the storage of the device, the brush head may bedetached from the end of the handle.

While the preferred embodiment only has been illustrated, it is obviousthat many minor changes may be made in the construction and relation ofparts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle provided at one end with a brush head, means forreceiving said handle comprising a drum-like container, a shaftextending axially through said container, a disk rotatably supported bysaid shaft, said disk having a peripheral flange, one end wall of saidcontainer having an opening extending from a point in registration withsaid flange inwardly, toward the center of said end wall, and a guidemember secured to said end wall over said opening, one end of said guidewall having a slot of a size substantially equal to the cross-sectionaldimensions of said handle, the other end of said guide being closed andinclined to guide said handle through the opening in said end wall.

2. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle provided at one end with a brush head, means forreceiving said handle comprising a drum-like container, a shaftextending axially through said container, a disk rotatably supported bysaid shaft, said disk having a peripheral flange provided withtransversely extending corrugations, one end wall of said containerhaving an opening extending from a point in registration with saidflange inwardly toward the center of said end wall, and a guide membersecured to said end wall over said opening, one end of said guide wallhaving a slot of a size substantially equal to the cross-sectionaldimensions ofsaid handle, the other end of said guide being closed andinclined to guide said handle through the opening in said end wall.

3. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle provided at one end with a brush head, means forreceiving said handle comprising a drum-like container having a pair oftelescoping pan-like sections, one of said sections having an openingformed therein, a shaft member supported between said sections, apan-like reel rotatably supported within said container on said shaft,guide means secured over the opening in said section, said guide meansbeing open at one end and one side, the end opening conformingsubstantially in size to the cross-sectional dimensions of said handle.

4. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle provided at one end with a brush head, means forreceiving said handle comprising a drum-like container, a shaftextending axially through said container, a disk rotatably supported bysaid shaft, said disk having a peripheral flange provided withtransversely extending corrugations,

one end wall of said container having an opening extending from a pointin registration with said flange inwardly toward the center of said endwall, and a guide member secured to said end wall over said opening.

5. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle and a brush head at one end thereof, a receiver forsaid handle comprising a drum-like container having an opening in oneend wall, and a pan-like reel rotatably supported in said container withthe open end disposed toward the opening in the end wall of saidcontainer, the annular 'wall of said pan-like reel having transverselyextending corrugations.

6. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle and a brush head at one end thereof, a receiver forsaid handle comprising a drum-like container having an opening inonevend wall, a pan-like reel rotatably supported in said container withthe open end disposed toward the opening in the end wall of saidcontainer, and guide means secured on the exterior of said containeradjacent the opening in said end wall.

7. In a conduit cleaning device of the type having an elongated flexiblestrip-like handle and a brush head at one end thereof, a receiver forsaid handle comprising a drum-like container having an opening in oneend wall, a pan-like reel rotatably supported in said container with theopen end disposed toward the opening in the end wall of said container,and guide means secured on the exterior ofsaid container adjacent theopening in said end wall, the longitudinal axis of said guide meansbeing disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the end walls ofsaid container.

MAUREL G. BunwmL.

